S.Rajam’s (Music Appreciation notes)

Wednesday, 28 February 2018

The Rama story as embellished by Kamban

The story of
Rama, perhaps, began in the collective unconscious of the ancient tribes, who
inhabited India in the distant past.. The story could have remained as an oral
tradition for a long time that later found expression in a written form in the
Buddha Jataka tales (5th century BCE). It was an essential part
of the spiritual mythography of Buddhism. It was a simple and straightforward
fable, wherein Rama represented one of the evolutionary stages of Gautama, the
Buddha, before he attained Nirvana. There was only one twist in the story, the
self- exile of Rama to the Himalayas to avoid the wrath of his step-mother. The
Buddhist version scrupulously avoided war and violence befitting its satvic
tradition

Valmiki,
hailed as Atikavi (‘the first poet’), collected the various myths and legends
of his time, obtained in the different parts of the Indian sub-continent and
integrated them with the Rama story, bringing to bear upon the narration a
thematic continuity, set in a vast canvass that spread over from Nepal in the
north to SriLanka down under. Because of this inclusive setting, all the
regions identified themselves with the epic, each in its own distinctive way,
that when it got rendered in the language of the region, this impact of various
cultural and linguistic diversities helped the story acquire a pan-Indian
character. Ramayana became the intrinsic aspect of the Indian cultural psyche.

In the West,
when they brought out Homer and Virgil in the European languages, the yardstick
that was used to consider the quality of such works was their fidelity to the
original in form and content. In the Indian context, our cultural tradition
conceded a certain amount of literary freedom to those who rendered the
original in their languages because those who were engaged in this stupendous
task, were, invariably poets in their own right.

Ramayana
exists in thirteen languages of the country and in innumerable folk versions.
Each one offers us, a distinctive regional flavour, that happily integrates
with the main theme.

Kamban (12th century
CE), who all that was the best in the Tamil literary tradition,( the Sangam
classics belonging to the early centuries of the Christian era, Thirukural, the
unparalleled literary manual for personal and social conduct, Cilappadikaram,
the most elegant and sophisticated epic by a Chera prince called Ilango and
most of all, the spontaneous devotional outpourings of the mystic poets of the
bhakti period), chose to write the Rama story, not merely for ‘justifying
the ways of God to man’ but out of‘sheer love for narrating the
story’ and ‘ poetic tribute and respect for Valmiki, the Atikavi’,
as he did declare at the beginning of the epic. But Kamban did not translate
the Valmiki’s Ramayana but trans-created it with masterly and subtle structural
changes to suit his own literary views and concepts, without offending the
sequential order of narration in the original

Kamban was a
conscious literary artist, who had this thing clear in his mind that what he
proposed to write was a literary piece and not a religious work that was how
Valmiki’s Ramayana came to be known, during the period of Kamban, though
Valmiki might not have intended it so.. The commentators for the religious
works, at the time of Kamban, profusely quoted from Valmiki to drive home their
sectarian views, which could have, perhaps, unsettled Kamban that he decided
his work should be uncompromisingly literary giving no leeway for religious
hijacking.

Though Rama
had begun to be worshipped as the incarnation of Vishnu by the time Kamban
wrote Ramayana, he, in his invocation poems, did not refer to any sectarian
deity, but saluted the One that went on creating, protecting and annihilating
the Universe and which was an endless game by itself.. Throughout the epic at
several places, he referred to this One guiding principle of the
Universe, which, he categorized as the Supreme Reality.

A romantic as
well as a philosophical description of a dramatic incident occurring in the
Rama story, as described by Kamban, could sum up his view on religion. Rama, as
he was on his way to the court of Janaka, the beautiful women of Mithila rushed
to their balconies to catch a view of this handsome young man. Those, who
looked at his shoulder continued to be looking at it, because it was so
beautiful. Those, who looked at his feet could not take away their stare
elsewhere. And the same story with those, who caught a glimpse of his sinewy
hands. No one saw the complete fascinating figure of the Ayodhya prince. Kamban
did not stop with this romantic imagery. He declared that like the sectarian
views of different religions on God that failed to comprehend the Oneness of the
Ultimate Principle, the women of Mithila saw only one physical aspect of Rama
and not his whole figure.

It is often
said by the critics of the Rama legend, that whereas, Valmiki treated Rama as a
human-being, the later poets who retold the story raised him to divinity by
making him an incarnation of Vishnu. It is true that at the time Kamban wrote
his Ramayana, Rama was worshipped as an avatara of Vishnu, but to the credit of
Kamban it must be said he treated Rama as one of the most loveable human
characters, who befriended all, high and low, as his fellow brethren
irrespective of their station in life.

Guha, the
hunter, who helped Rama cross the river, was so friendly and affectionate
towards him that Kamban’s Rama, treating him as his equal told
him, ‘ My brother Lakshmana is your younger brother, my wife Sita is
your sister-in-law and all of us belong to the same fraternity’. In Valmiki’s
Ramayana, one feels the comradeship between Rama and Guha as described by
Kamban is somewhat missing. Rama’s love for Guha left such an impact on Sita,
that, when she was imprisoned in Asokavana by Ravana, she recollected this incident
in her nostalgic odyssey.

Kamban’s
delineated even the minor characters with deft touches of psychological
insights. He crafts Kumbakarna, the brother of Ravana, as a tragic hero torn
between loyalty and justice, totally unlike the character as appearing in
Valmiki’s Ramayana.

Kumbakarna
was an uncouth figure, a man-mountain, a glutton and a demon in Valmiki’s
Ramayana. But with Kamban’s golden touch, he emerged to dizzy heights of glory,
becoming as great as Bishma Pithamaha and Radheya(Karna) in Mahabharata. As one
sees Kamban’s portrayal of Kumbakarna, he cannot but conclude that all
these three characters(Kumbakarna , Bhishma and Radheya) were Destiny’s
children, cursed, as they were, to fight for the wrong side. Towards presenting
Kumbakarna this way, Kamban deviated from the original and set up a scene in
which Vibhishana met Kumbakarna in the battle-field to request him to join
Rama, as he was also opposed to the abduction of Sita by Ravana.

Kamban
achieved two objectives by presenting this scene One, Vibhishana had to
be justified in his action for deserting his brother and joining his
enemy and the other ,the character of Kumbakarna had to be glorified, as an
heroic man of great integrity, full of love and compassion for his brothers.

Refusing to
join the Rama camp, Kamban’s Kumbakarna replied : ‘No. What you have done
is right by joining Rama. Because you were always a peace-loving man and
against all illegal battles. You tried your best to convince Ravana to leave
Sita and avoid war, but he exiled you and threatened to kill you if you did not
leave the country. In your case, it is a question of ideology. Right versus
Wrong. For such people, love for the kin or country does not matter. People who
stand by justice transcend such narrow barriers. But, I had been participating in
all the wars that our brother was engaged, whether they were for right or wrong
causes. True, I protested against this unethical behaviour of our brother in
abducting another man’s wife. But, having fought with him all along, I cannot
desert him and especially now, when he is facing defeat. It would be
selfishness on my part to do so. So leave me now to face my fate. From
this.moment we are not brothers, we are enemies. I will not hesitate to
vanquish Rama’s army.. Life is transitory but values are eternal.’

At the time,
when Kamban’s Kumbarna lay dying, he said to Rama: ‘ I request you to
promise me two things. The first is to aim an arrow to throw my body into the
sea, as I do not want my enemies to see my much mutilated body. Secondly, I
leave my dear brother Vibhishana in your trust, as I know, he would be the
first target for Ravana, when he arrives at the battle-field to fight with
you.’

Kumbarkana’s
defence of Vibhishana raises an issue in the modern text. What is patriotism?
Were all the good citizens of Germany, who left their country during Hitler’s
rule, unpatriotic? Kamban’s Kumbakarna has the answer; ‘People who stand
by justice transcend such narrow barriers’ as patriotism, nationalism etc
one may add.

Kamban’s
concept of fraternity cut across not only the caste regulations, as we saw
earlier as in the case of Guha, but national borders as well. Kamban continued
expanding this theme of fraternity by making Rama claim Sugriva, the monkey
chief as his sixth brother and later, Vibishana, the asura prince and
brother of his mortal enemy Ravana as his seventh brother. ‘Now that we
are seven, your father in heaven Dasaratha would feel immensely happy”, Rama
told Vibhishana. Kamban had a way with words, which is evident here by
the way Rama addressed Vibhishana in an inclusive manner by his reference to
Dasaratha as Visbishana’s father that was a master stroke which could have put
the latter completely at ease with himself, overcoming a possible sense of
guilt he might have had for deserting his brother, Ravana.

This valuable
lesson of universal brotherhood was a favourite theme of Kamban that he
stressed it at several places. He had this inspiration from one of the most
famous Tamil poems in Sangam poetry, in which the poet sang,’ I belong to
all the cities in the world and all are my kin.’

Kamban’s Rama
did not feel humiliated or perturbed when Ravana disparagingly dismissed him as
one belonging to the lowliest of the low, a human-being after all. He, in fact,
had a sense of pride in being a man and his ultimate triumph over the asura who
was blessed with the boons given to him by the mighty gods in heaven, was
hailed by the poet, as the victory of Man over divinity. God, in his descent as
a human-being in this very earth had more relevance and significance for the
alvars, the Tamil bhakti poets(7thcentury CE to 9th century
CE) than in his being an abstraction in the form of a deity in the distant
heavens. In their view, man had immense potential in him, which, when properly
tapped and exploited could help him attain godhood. Kamban showcased the
blueprint of such a man in the form of Rama, who, like any one of us, met with
lots of emotional problems and existential dilemmas before overcoming all of
them to achieve success at the end.

Kamban’s
characters, whether they were heroes or villains were not either totally white
or totally .black. Rama had his own blemishes like his killing Vali, when the
latter least expected it. Kamban’s Vali told his wife,Thara, before he accepted
the challenge of his brother to fight with him, when she reminded him that
Sugriva had Rama’s support, ‘ Do you think that such an exalted soul
as Rama, who did not hesitate to give his kingdom to his brother would descend
so low as to commit an heinous crime?’

But the irony
was, he did kill Vali stealthily. He could not defend himself, when Vali,
surprised and shocked, expressed his disappointment in no uncertain terms.
Kamban very

subtly had
drawn this picture of a guilty Rama with artistic maturity..

Kamban’s
Ravana was not a hard-hearted, brutal villain merely given to lust and
violence. He was a magnificent warrior whose tragedy was that he fell in love
with Sita even before he met her. His sister Surpanaka described her beauty in
such a picturesque manner, that he saw Sita’s illusion even while she was
talking. He asked her whether the one he was seeing before his mind’s eye was
Sita but she replied it was Rama, because when she was describing Sita, she had
Rama in her mind with whom she had fallen in love! It is one of the most
beautiful romantic passages in Kamban’s Ramayana. Since this incident was going
to seal the fate of Ravana, Kamban dramatized the whole scene in an exquisite
manner.

For the sake
of love, he was prepared to lose a kingdom. When his son Indrajit told him to
give up Sita, as at that time the war was almost lost, Ravana replied,’ I
have chosen my enemy not in the hope that you and your uncles and my mighty
army are going to support me, but I have done it on my own mental strength,
energized by a feeling of all-consuming love. So long as Rama’s name will
remain that he fought to the end to get back his wife, my name will also be
there that I did not yield unto the last.’ This reminds us of Milton’s
Satan, who thundered, ‘What though the field be lost? All is not lost, the
unconquerable will, and study of revenge, immortal hate, and courage never to
submit or yield.’

Kamban lost
no opportunity in emphasizing over and again that Ravana’s love for Sita was
not just physical infatuation but a pure, unadulterated tender feeling of the
mind and even before keeping her a prisoner in Asokavana, he had kept her a
prisoner in his heart! So when Rama’s arrow pierced Ravana’s chest at the end,
Kamban said, it scouted for the feeling of love he had for Sita in his heart of
hearts and took it away, making an exit through his back! Kamban beautifully
captured the great fall of the mighty Ravana and contrasted it with his once
glorious past, when he lifted the Kailash mountain, the abode of Shiva and what
a fall was there and all for the sake of love!

Kamban lived
during the period of Imperial cholas but, considering that he dedicated his
epic, in a way, to an ordinary, simple philanthropist, by mentioning his
name ten times in the course of his narration, one may be tempted to conclude
that he did not enjoy royal patronage as many other inferior poets of his
period and apocryphal stories about the master poet are not wanting, to
strengthen this view.